Across the nation

One by one, courts around the country are deciding it’s no longer slander to falsely call someone gay — a measure of how attitudes are changing in the era of same-sex marriage and gays in uniform.

While “gay” is still widely wielded as an insult, some judges have concluded that it is not damaging to anyone’s reputation, just as calling a white man black is no longer grounds for legal action as it was a generation ago.

The latest ruling came from a midlevel New York state appeals court Thursday and was hailed by gay-rights activists as a small but meaningful victory.

RALEIGH, N.C.

Now that he has survived his campaign corruption trial, John Edwards may face an even tougher fight to regain the public’s respect.

Image experts and friends recommended that the disgraced former presdential candidate put his public and political life on hold for a few years. The details of his affair and child with his mistress that were replayed at his trial are too fresh, they say.

“Plant a small garden, tend that garden and wait and listen,” said Wade Smith, an attorney who hired Edwards when he was a young attorney and represented him before the trial.

SPOKANE, Wash.

The Washington Air National Guard says two nursing mothers were wrong to be photographed in uniform while breast-feeding their babies.

The photos were posted on the Internet by a group at Fairchild Air Force Base that supports breast-feeding mothers. The group, Mom2Mom, said the photos were meant to promote World Breast-Feeding Week in August.

“We’re just showing moms can breast-feed their children in any kind of uniform,” said Trysta Chavez, who co-founded the group with Crystal Scott at the base outside Spokane.

PHILADELPHIA

Green Lantern, one of DC Comics’ oldest and most enduring heroes, is serving as a beacon for the publisher again, this time as a proud, mighty and openly gay hero.

The change is revealed in the pages of the second issue of “Earth 2” out next week, and comes on the heels of what has been an expansive year for gay and lesbian characters in the pages of comic books from Archie to Marvel and others.

But purists and fans note: This Green Lantern is not the emerald galactic space cop Hal Jordan who was, and is, part of the Justice League and has had a history rich in triumph and tragedy.

Instead, he’s a parallel earth Green Lantern. James Robinson, who writes the new series, said Alan Scott is the retooled version of the classic Lantern whose first appearance came in the pages of “All-American Comics” No. 16 in July 1940.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla.

A 1-month-old baby was found dead Friday in the trunk of a car in Florida, and the boy’s father has been taken into custody, police said.

The infant was identified as Josiah Santil, said Coral Springs police Lt. Joe McHugh. The boy’s father, Janus Saintil, 24, was arrested Friday outside a Coral Springs apartment. Charges were not immediately filed. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.

An autopsy will be performed on the child. An official cause of death has not yet been released.